Mars Volta's Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Announces First-Ever U.S. Tour

Posted on Aug 2nd 2010 11:27PM by Benjy Eisen
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It's beginning to seem like guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is as frenetic and kinetic in real life as he is onstage with the Mars Volta (and At the Drive-In before that). The tireless composer and performer has always had a little something going on, on the side, to satisfy all of his urges, and now he's taking the Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group on the road for their first-ever U.S. engagements.

"We'll be playing mostly new material that I'm experimenting with, as well as a handful of tracks from some of the recent albums," Omar tells Spinner. "I prefer to use the live context to develop new material rather than focusing on things that already have a life on a recording somewhere."

So while the group does include several other members of Mars Volta's touring outfit (Juan Alderete De La Pena and Marcel Rodriguez), a complete performance of, say, 'Frances the Mute' is totally out of the question. And although the two groups may vary in terms of material and personnel, Omar says the real difference is actually far more subtle.

"I don't really look at things as being inside or outside of the Mars Volta," he says. "As the composer in the band, I'm just constantly refining ideas. A practical way of doing that is to continuously be playing and experimenting. It's more about the process and keeping busy than compartmentalizing what is going where. All the creative outlets I take advantage of are extensions of my persona, and for me they're inherently interrelated."

The Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group will land on American soil in September but don't get your hopes up too high -- the band will play just four shows, beginning in San Francisco on September 13 and continuing on to Los Angeles (Sept. 14), New York (Sept. 17) and Chicago (Sept. 18). All four shows are booked at intimate venues, with the much-hyped Le Butcherettes as the special guest opener. Enjoy it while it lasts but, blink twice, and they'll already be in Japan and onto the next.